London man who stabbed Liverpool FC fan to death has failed in bid to cut life sentence

LIVERPOOL FC fan Alex Jarmay who was stabbed to death outside a north London bar

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A north London man, handed a life sentence for stabbing to death a Liverpool FC fan in a Camden bar in the run up to the Carling Cup Final, has failed to win a cut in his minimum jail term.

Paul Beck, 30, killed 26-year-old reds fan, Alex Jarmay, of Wirral, in Bar Uno after he had travelled to the capital to watch his beloved Liverpool play Cardiff City at Wembley in 2012.

Beck, of Spring Place, Kentish Town, was jailed for life - and ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years - by Judge Gerald Gordon at the Old Bailey in November, last year, after he admitted murder.

Alex Jarmay at the FA Cup Final

Today, three of the country's most senior judges at London's Court of Appeal rejected a sentence challenge by Beck, saying the minimum jail term imposed by Judge Gordon was "unimpeachable".

Mr Justice Wyn Williams said Mr Jarmay, of Bromborough, had travelled to London with a group of Liverpool fans who headed to Bar Uno on Saturday, February 25, 2012 in preparation for the cup final the following day.

They were in high spirits and there was no suggestion any trouble was on the cards when Mr Jarmay's brother, Luke, 23, approached another group of revellers containing Beck and his brother Damien, 25.

Suffering from a punctured lung and wounds to his chest and back, Mr Jarmay staggered outside and collapsed on the ground, dying where he fell, despite a swift response from the emergency services.

Beck admitted murder on the basis that he had mistakenly, but genuinely, believed the group of blameless Liverpool FC fans were going to attack him and his brother; it was also accepted he had not intended to kill Mr Jarmay.

Liverpool v Arsenal. R.I.P. Alex banner on the Kop before kick-off.

Damien Beck, also of Kentish Town, admitted wounding Luke Jarmay and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

In appealing Paul Beck's minimum term, his barrister, Paul Mendelle QC, claimed Judge Gordon wrongly found there was some pre-meditation in the attack and that insufficient credit was given for the guilty plea.

He concluded: "This was a very good example of an experienced judge weighing the various competing features and reaching conclusions about the minimum term, which were, and are, unimpeachable.

"He had the benefit of a very moving victim impact statement. He was entitled to pay some regard to that, as he clearly did. We have read the moving statement and, to the extent permissable, we also pay attention to its contents.

"We have reviewed this case, we hope, with considerable care and we are completely satisfied that permission to appeal should be refused".